Category: World

NEW DELHI, July 22, 2008 (AFP) – India’s government on Tuesday survived a parliamentary confidence vote that could have led to early polls and scuppered a nuclear energy deal with the United States, state television showed.A total of 253 deputies backed the government, 232 voted against and two abstained, according to results from electronic voting […]

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2008 (AFP) – The sputtering economy has asserted itself as the main concern for US voters less than four months ahead of presidential elections, and with an avalanche of alarming new data it appears unlikely that will change. While crude oil prices fell more than 16 dollars per barrel in the past […]

DUBAI, July 20, 2008 (AFP) – Faced with a scarcity of fertile land, water shortages and surging world food prices, wealthy Arab states in the Gulf are seeking to secure their food supplies by investing in agriculture abroad. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the top food importers among Arab countries in the Gulf, […]

FRANKFURT, July 20, 2008 (AFP) – The European Central Bank is trying to convince people in the eurozone that taking a tough stand on inflation will get them through lean economic times, arguing that long-term gains warrant short-term pain.“There is a particular need to speak to citizens on inflation and monetary policy right now,” Natixis […]

KABUL, July 20, 2008 (AFP) – US human rights lawyers charged Sunday that US military prisons are “legal black holes” and the force is detaining journalists to “shut people up” about activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.A vast detention camp planned for the main US base in Afghanistan will be a “second Guantanamo” where laws do […]

LONDON, July 18, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices slumped this week as traders worried the slowing US economy would dampen demand from the world’s biggest energy consumer, sparking losses across other key commodity markets.OIL: Crude futures plummeted further from record high points above 147 dollars per barrel that were struck exactly one week ago. “The […]

KATHMANDU, July 19, 2008 (AFP) – Lawmakers in Nepal are expected to vote on Saturday for the country’s first president following the abolition of the Hindu monarchy, paving the way for the dominant Maoists to form a government.“With the three parties going three separate ways, the road to the smooth functioning of the new government […]

HARARE, July 19, 2008 (AFP) – Zimbabwe, grappling with a record 2.2 million percent inflation, has introduced a new 100-billion-dollar bank note in a bid to tackle rampant cash shortages, the central bank said Saturday. The new note will go into circulation on Monday, the bank said in a statement cited by state media, joining […]

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2008 (AFP) – The IMF on Thursday lifted growth forecasts modestly for the world including the United States but said the global economy is in a “tough spot” due to rising inflation amid a slowdown. Global output is expected to climb 4.1 percent in 2008, up from its April projection of 3.7 […]

LONDON, July 18, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices rallied on Friday after three days of heavy falls that pulled the market down by 15 dollars on worries over economic growth and slowing demand, traders said. New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, won back 2.39 dollars to 131.68. London’s Brent North […]

TOKYO, July 17, 2008 (AFP) – Asia’s economic giants, under pressure to yield ground in key global free trade talks next week, are ready to open their markets to spur growth, but not at any cost, analysts said. Many of the region’s economies rely heavily on foreign trade to power their growth and the breakdown […]

LOS ANGELES, July 17, 2008 (AFP) – Videogame makers are riding the social-networking wave with a flood of soon-to-be-released titles that let friends play online as teams and even create their own characters.The world’s big three console makers — Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony — are providing frameworks for players to connect with hardware and software […]